Statement

Terrorism, we’re told, demands quietism. In the aftermath of 9/11 White House press secretary Ari Fleisher sought quietism through the chilling effect of an executively authorized declaration: Americans should watch what they say, what they do.

We say that the underlying viciousness of such forms of coercive power needs to be confronted. We believe we have a responsibility to confront such vice, for the worst kind of quietism is voluntary. This responsibility is grounded in at least two ways. First, most of what our governments do, for good or bad, they do as our representatives. Does it matter whether we actually voted for any particular administration? Those who voted for, and supported thereafter, any particular government are in a straightforward way causally responsible, but this does not absolve those who voted differently or not at all. All citizens voluntarily falling under the rule of any democratically elected administration tacitly legitimize such rule. Either directly or indirectly, then, we all legitimize their actions, and must bear responsibility for such legitimization.

Second, independently of our own governments, we believe being human carries its own responsibilities. Institutional policies, we see, often have horrific outcomes, especially and disproportionately so, for the world’s poor. The widespread, and widely known, shortfalls in access to the objects of human rights represent an intolerable state of affairs. We believe the recognition of this fact, whether the outcomes are accidental or intentional, demands, morally demands, a response. If the policy outcomes are accidental, it is inhuman to fail to reflect on how they may be prevented. If the policy outcomes are intentional, it is inhuman to fail to confront them and attempt to undermine their effects.

As we see it, we have not discharged our responsibilities. It is a difficult question what one must do or say in order to fulfill one’s obligations. It is an even more difficult question, given our disparate stations and geographical locations, what activity we can share to fulfill our collective responsibilities. This is why we pursue this project Interventions: it offers us an opportunity to do something to jointly face up to and bear the responsibilities we believe we have. Our forum is not intended merely to express our ideas in agreement or disagreement with institutional policies, but for stimulating discussion about issues crucial to imagining a more just world. For this reason, all comments, observations, and general feedback from our readers will be welcome.

The general orientation of this forum is domestic and global justice, and our intention is to fill the lacunae between uncritical journalism and theoretical abstraction.

--Editors